It’s one-forty ante meridiem in the SouthEast region of Beaumont, Texas, and NuSoul the Poet — the mantle of a young, black lyrical genius; hip-hop’s most studious and innovative artist of this generation has just finished a confidential phone conversation with a close female confidant. He has a lot going on at the moment, musically, with being the frontman of Far Cry, a cover group of cigar & champagne musicians rocking the stage, and the March 25th release of his first record, this year’s full length debut studio album, Formidable.
In essence of a Diane Arbus self-portrait capture of James Brown, the Godfather of soul, an untiring explorer through the art for the Poet. Be on the lookout, time is a fleeting thief. You don’t want to miss the chance of capturing a moment into the persevering presence of hip-hop personified. NuSoul, the Poet.
You know what’s foreshadowing? Flipping through shared memories of the 29-year-old, Poet when he was going through the realms of childhood, at age seven, singing in his Sunday service. But seeing a captured photograph of himself with decorative phonograph records hanging from the wall in the background of the church, there was a growing realization that music was the way forward. A forwarded need in the Godsend future to create music.
“I was seven years old,” said NuSoul, “I participated in a talent show at my school. I was performing ‘P.Y.T.’ by Michael Jackson. I was hooked. The way the crowd responded, the way they all had a good time. It was what I knew I was born to do. It’s a gift, and who are we, as God’s children, to deny the gifts given to us.”
Inherently at heart, prestige from the Most High has been pursuing NuSoul, the Poet since the time of boyhood. A personal reflection on whether or not God experiences pleasure out of purposely planting the scattered puzzle pieces of our purpose along the way in the wilderness as entertainment towards His gameplay. The kid who was once overlooked and bullied in school, rose to the occasion upon being deeply absorbed in thought at how the real world works when he felt like it was against him. He has now resolved to evolve his issues to become one of hip-hops most promising debuts from an up-and-coming prodigal lyricist and gifted literary genius. His lyrics, as described on Formidable, is hip hop; it’s pain, it’s joy, it’s bold, it’s vulnerable, it’s r&b and prolific storytelling. It perfectly encompasses the artistry of NuSoul, the Poet.
Formidable, which was heavily influenced by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson’s Dangerous album cover art, fulfilled the passage of its definition revolving around the awe-inspiring Poet, NuSoul. “Inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable.” When getting into the writing process of creating this freshman record, NuSoul immersed himself in playing Bad by Michael Jackson, Sign O’ the Times by Prince, Damn by Kendrick Lamar, 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J Cole, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, and Brown Sugar by D’ Angelo. In juxtapose of other monumental hip-hop albums that lived up to its title and are now deemed certified etched classics. Classics such as Paid in Full, the Chronic, Illmatic, and the Marshall Mathers LP. Formidable is a fearless, forward march in the right direction; a powerfully written statement pieced together with zero skips, nary a wack track. It’s a fine debut from a hungry, hard working underground emcee whose authoritative voice (in the style of the D.O.C.) commanded attention from first to the last ninth-track tape.
“I’m here,” said a confident and humbled NuSoul, “I spent years fighting for recognition, and so this was the “warning shot.” He continues, “This is where it all starts. I feel that this album is the one that everybody is gonna point to years from now, saying “that’s where it started for him.
Introducing track one, ‘Intro (Love Yourself),’ NuSoul opens up the beginning of the album with Kendrick Lamar speaking on the importance of love from Konbini, a cutting-edge media news company that showcases pop culture. In defiance of the sturm and drang spate on how the world crumbles in extreme self-loathing of oneself, love begins and ends with the knowledge of knowing who we truly are as an individual. This unapologetic, amour-propre record showcases the importance of being a lover of love. Lover of self, lover of a woman, and a lover of God.
A speech by Malcolm X: ‘Democracy is Hypocrisy’ is heard as the song, Intro (Love Yourself) proceeds to conclude. There’s a question being dodged by the racially (white) privileged and powerful to evade the deep rooted issue. Questions like, does America have a serious problem, and why? George Floyd comes to mind. Raised fist, yet tears in eyes.
“America has several problems,” said NuSoul, “and right now one of its biggest problems is self-inflicted. The politics change, but the people don’t. All the marching, all the speeches, all the movements in the world won’t be enough to move America if America does not want to move.” In a world full of people who are nefarious and mean spirited, NuSoul, the Poet doesn’t want to just exist, but live, truly live to be the change.
Uplift to beast mode, ‘Put Me On,’ sampled by Bernie Mac’s “I ain’t scared of you motherfuckers” from his first Def Comedy Jam Stand Up, is a strong reflection of an empowered, renaissance black man, looking outside the industry, stouthearted and giving us a rap resistance of self-awareness and dignity. Referencing His idol, (the hardest working man in show business) James Brown, with “I don’t want nobody to give me nothing (open up the door, I’ll get it myself).” NuSoul puts it on his Savior that he’s biblically (formidably) armed to the teeth with rifled jottings to compete and hold his own on the grand stage with animal ambition lyricists of such God-given caliber in the mainstream like Nas, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Joyner Lucas, and Joey Bada$$.
“This was me making that statement,” said NuSoul, “kinda talking to the industry and these local rappers, then imploring these major labels to just open the door for me. Don’t give me nothing. Let me get it myself. I just need the doors to be open.”
On whom he thinks is the greatest of all time in the history of hip-hop? The God, Rakim immediately comes to mind each and every time. When writing ‘G.O.A.T.’ (a term helped popularize by LL Cool J), NuSoul felt like he was raining a forecast of his prophecy, musically. He wants to be weighed up as one of the greatest to ever illuminate the stage and grace the microphone. There are still many poetic passages of his discography that need to be written, recorded and etched beneath the Mount Rushmore of Hip Hop for himself to earn official permission of the god emcees; the iconic and most respected title in the music industry, g.o.a.t.
In terms of being biblical and speaking in a language that the world can understand, ‘Exhale’ gently weeps in a soft spoken flow, the Nazareth betrayal and Iscariot neglect of society. NuSoul, the Poet, reflects “I roll a spliff and take a drag/put it in the air. Then I connect with the ancestors from yesteryear. So many questions/so many issues I'm facing here. Can’t help but think if my brain would finally be silent there.”
The Edenic way of the earth, which once was birthed for eternity has now been shortened for God’s forsake; hence a fallen humanity’s payment to paying bills until the day we’ve all sphacelate and returned to dust. His human psyche was in a hopeless place, mentally, during the writing of Exhale, a jilted reflection as he describes his fallen friend and brother, Clifford Earl Jones Jr., age 24, who was fatally shot and killed on July 11th, 2020 in Beaumont, Texas. Paying homage to his brother, Earl, NuSoul then dedicates in verse, rapping “I watch the smoke swirl and daydream ‘bout my brother Earl. How I been missing his presence out in this cold world.”
Life is passing quickly as a vapor, don’t bottle and wait in your pride until the end to find holy matrimony when all vanishes away. ‘Vulnerable,’ as the title song suggests, is choosing not to hide your emotions from the one you love. NuSoul laments on Vulnerable, the perspective of a man who wants to love a woman, but fears the love he wants to give. “I know this thing/it ain’t simple/I just got you on my mental. I see your scars/your wounds/and all of the remnants of shit that you been through.” He continues in his soul baring verse, “I recognize all the symptoms/I still got pain in my system. I know it’s a narrative seldomly spoken/but even some brothers are victims” Seemingly exhausted in exploring the highs and lows of romanticism, NuSoul, the Poet as a truehearted paladin attempts to express his undying love to his girl. An expression that all he wanted was for her to freely express her thoughts, feelings, desires, and opinions. The courage, although they've both been jilted, to be themselves and reveal what they genuinely want out of their relationship.
He continues in an openness remark to let go and let God, to get the throbbing heartache of a relationship wound off his chest. “Men are oftentimes looked at as the reason a relationship falls apart, but I’ve been on the opposite end of that more than I care to think about. I know how it feels. The verse was simply reassurance.”
In the eye of the beholder, namely the electric eyed art crowd in a museum ‘oohing and aahing’ at a placid, gold plated debut studio album heavily inspired by Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, is Formidable. Eye-catching, graceful and conspicuous, a shining example of what you can do when you examine more carefully as an artist. Though quite familiar to the portrait discographies of Kendrick Lamar and J Cole, NuSoul bared his soul to paint this album to embrace its own eclecticism and stand out against other masterful works in the gallery of hip hop. What is creativity without the misadventure of growing pains that provides a stirring route to the next level?
NuSoul pushed himself and broke through the concrete of limitations on every non skippable track to create poeticism, something different than what he hadn't done before on his previous releases. If you ever wanted to learn about NuSoul, the Poet and Christian Bessard the “man,” just lend an ear to this album. It’ll answer all of your questions. You’ll see. It’s a pro black experience along the extraordinary lines of his gold blooded broach; “My predicament got me feeling myself. I’m belligerent. No coincidence/I was meant for this. I’m magnificent. I’m the GOAT.”